What? You Noticed That?
by Crazy PurpleSage
Summary: Who knew that braiding Itachi's hair in the early hours of the morning would be a bad thing? Naruto certainly didn't. Pointless fluff. One-shot. ItaNaru.


No claim to Naruto or Itachi.

Thank you Imperial Mint for looking this over for me. 

_And on with the story…_

_Who knew trying to braid Itachi's hair could be a bad thing? _

_**What? You Noticed That?**_

Tongue clamped firmly between his teeth as well as pursed lips, Naruto glared in concentration at the smooth black locks he was twisting between his fingers.

Separate it into three halves…wait, that's not right…, parts. Then far left crosses over middle, far right crosses over middle; repeat. Grab more hair from the right, by his temple; from the left, under the ear.

He had this.

Having only been trying and messing it up bajillion times by now; he had better get it right this time. He was on a roll now. It was halfway done…the pieces of hair were getting smaller and more difficult to deal with now. But…he could twist it around one more time…and….

There!

Damn, Itachi's hair was _long_.

Hmm…Now, the only thing that still escaped him was the tie. How the heck was he supposed to pull the hair and his fingers through at the same time? It was impossible!

Okay. Maybe if he used both hands, alternating on each side… Yeah. That should work.

Slipping the dark purple elastic –to match the other man's nails of course –off his wrist, Naruto carefully leaned forward and preceded to ties the braided hair in a loose two-spun tie.

"Got it!" Naruto whispered triumphantly; satisfied smile lighting up his face as he leaned back on his pillow to examine his handiwork.

Not the best, there were a few mess-ups, a stray strand sticking up here or there, and it wasn't exactly straight. All the same, the sleeping beauty that was Itachi was now sporting a beautiful plait in the back of his head. Hopefully, Itachi wouldn't look too closely in the mirror this morning and just think he had already put his hair up for the day, leaving the house none the wiser.

Once again, Naruto counted himself lucky to be the only person that Itachi felt truly comfortable enough with to let his guard down completely. Otherwise, Itachi would have woken the instant Naruto had started playing with his hair at 3:30 this morning. Not that Naruto had originally gone to bed with the idea to braid Itachi's hair in the early hours of the morning, but for some unknown reason his body had decided to wake him up at such a God-forsaken hour.

Bored and with no way to go back to sleep, Naruto soon had found himself combing his fingers through the long, silky raven locks of the man beside him. And as he had let his mind wander off from the task of sliding silk between his fingers, braiding Itachi's hair suddenly seemed like such a genius idea.

And that's because it _was_ a good idea. Why hadn't he thought of this sooner?

Itachi gave a slight groan and rolled over onto his back. It was half an hour before the two of them had to get up for work, which meant only five minutes before Itachi would wake up –on his own mental clock –and enjoy 25 minutes in bed with Naruto before starting their morning ritual. Naruto had also, for the most part, conditioned himself to rise early with Itachi, but most of the time he just blinked groggily when he felt the bed move as Itachi woke, and then spent the next 25 minutes in the blissful state between waking and sleeping.

But this morning was different.

Naruto had gotten up first. Practically at the crack of dawn, with no clue as to why, and had decided to have some fun before Itachi woke.

Another strained groan emitted from the waking man beside Naruto as Itachi clench his eyes shut and stretched his limbs under the covers.

"Morning," Naruto cooed; waiting for Itachi to open his eyes in surprise, knowing it would be enough of a shock that he was awake, let alone alert and ready to face the day.

And indeed, Itachi's eyes immediately flung open.

Blinking a few times to dispel the sleep from his vision, Itachi leaned forward to bore his eyes into Naruto's.

"You're awake." Itachi's deep voice was even deeper in the morning, always making him sound like he had not used it for centuries instead of just a few hours. No matter what Itachi said with those sleep-clogged vocal chords, Naruto always turned to mush at the sound. No wonder he was usually dead to the world in the morning before the alarm brought him crashing back into reality.

"Mm," Naruto agreed, feeling his eyelids already beginning to droop, hoping Itachi would speak again so he could catch up on a few hours of sleep.

"Early morning?" He guessed it in one, but Naruto's pleasure-hazed brain was not entirely clocking their conversation anymore.

"Grgh," he grunted; trying to stay awake and look Itachi in the eye, but instead feeling his head fall forward onto Itachi's chest, the drowsiness begin to seep into his bones. Itachi's voice was like a tranquilizer. One minute you're crazy with energy, ready to get up and go, the next you're quickly slipping from reality. Again, Naruto struggled to stay awake, wondering in awe at the back of his mind, like he had so many other mornings, how Itachi's voice could have such an effect on him.

Just as he was beginning to sink into unconsciousness, Itachi spoke again, breaking the silence of the morning. "We have to get up soon and go to work," Itachi chuckled, his chest vibrating under Naruto's forehead. "We've already missed too many days this month."

"We've only missed two," Naruto argued, his lips pressing against Itachi's warm skin as he spoke; a little more in-tuned with the conversation now that he was being pulled back awake. "We've still got at least two more."

"I mean 'too many' as an acceptable amount for work." Itachi cleared his throat, as though he knew exactly what influence he was having on Naruto and was further proving his point that they needed to rise and face another day.

"Will you have time for lunch today?" Naruto asked, resigning himself to the fact that he would not be catching up on some much-needed sleep this morning, but still enjoying the warmth of Itachi's skin on his cheek.

Naruto heard Itachi breath in deeply through his nose -a gesture which the blond knew meant that Itachi was thinking –and a pale hand came up to the owner's forehead and brushed back black bangs from his face. Naruto momentarily held his breath, hoping Itachi wouldn't move his hand back any farther into his hair.

"I have a meeting at ten and another at one," he said as he dropped his hand back down to cover his eyes –Naruto breathed a small sigh of relief. "But I still need to prepare for the one o'clock one."

Naruto picked up his head at that and raised an eyebrow at Itachi; a smile threatening to overtake his face. "You mean you're not three days ahead of your schedule? How unlike you."

Itachi lifted his fingers from his vision and gave Naruto a calculating look –a cross between a glare and challenging glance.

"I just booked it yesterday. And who just cleared their whole schedule last night to spend it with you?"

"Oh," Naruto tried to sound apologetic, though the tone of his voice was made null and void by the smile that stretched his face enough to show all his pearly whites. "So no lunch?" That was really the only thing he wanted to know.

When they first met, Naruto had never expected Itachi to be so open, the kind of person who thought out loud and gave more information than needed whenever asked a question. Though, Naruto had to admit that Itachi only opened up like this when they were alone. It was sweet. The raven was like two sides of a coin, flipped to whatever his settings and company permitted.

"Maybe," Itachi scratched his chin, his eyes cast upward in thought. "Depends on if my ten runs over or not."

"I say you kick them out when you get bored." Naruto threw his hands back behind his head and rested the back of his skull in his palms. "That way everyone wins."

"Except for the clients who get kicked out, you mean," Itachi humoured him.

"Psht. Their loss," Naruto closed his eyes, feeling more than a little cocky and amused that Itachi was still completely unaware that he was sporting such a feminine hair style while talking about something as serious as work. Indeed, he was looking at Naruto as though he knew everything.

Ha. Just wait.

"You mean _our _loss, as clients mean money," Itachi countered sarcastically, probably knowing it was the only way to deal with Naruto like this so early in the morning.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Naruto swatted a hand vaguely in Itachi's direction. "Just a suggestion." He shrugged, trying to keep up with the conversation and not start burst out laughing. So far he was doing an excellent job of maintaining a straight face.

"Are you okay?" Itachi asked, breaking through Naruto's thoughts of smug accomplishment.

Naruto opened his eyes and tried to look as bemused and lost as possible. "Yeah, I'm good; why?"

Itachi narrowed his eyes warily. "You have that self-satisfied smirk on your face."

Damn. How could he have gotten caught so early in the game?

Shoot. Now he lost "_the game" _(1).

Ahem. No stray thoughts, he had to explain.

Wait. Perfect!

"I lost!" Naruto cried, throwing his forehead into his open palm in half-faking, half-serious distraught.

Itachi screwed his eyes up in confusion, hesitating for a moment as his mind tried to catch up with what Naruto was on about now. "You lost—"

"The _game_, Itachi. _The game_! I lost the game," Naruto moaned exasperatedly. How could Itachi not know about the game?

Itachi made to open his mouth again, but Naruto threw his hand over the pale lips.

"No," he instructed to a frozen and waiting Itachi. "Don't say anything." Naruto glanced around the room surreptitiously; he had to find something else to think about and quick or he'd keep losing.

Shoot! He did it again.

"Bees!"

"What?" Itachi's muffled words came through Naruto's fingers. He pulled the hand away and looked at Naruto in a way that clearly said, 'You're crazy.'

"Dolphins! Penguins, chairs, garbage, snow!"

"Hush," Itachi placed a soft finger over Naruto's lips this time, immediately stopping the outflow of random gibberish. Removing his finger slowly, he replaced the appendage with his own lips in a chaste kiss. "It's always good to hear some sound reason from you this early in the morning."

"Huh?" Naruto blinked in confusion, slowly allowing the words to from some sense into his hazy head. "Hey!"

Itachi smirked and dodged to the side as a pillow came flying at his head from above. "Well, now you _have_ to get up."

Naruto quirked an eyebrow at the man who just gave him such a sweet kiss and then made fun of him in the same breath. Itachi cocked his head backwards and looked at the rumpled pillow on the floor under the window, pointing his chin at the discarded upholstery as though it explained everything.

No pillow. No going back to sleep.

"Hmph," Naruto grunted with indifference. "That's okay," he said and preceded to scooch closer to Itachi, laying his head on the unexpected man's chest once again–his new designated pillow – and closing his eyes. "Now _you_ can'tget up."

Itachi chuckled, the sound reverberated through his whole torso and made Naruto's eye flutter as the sound tingled in his cheek. "What's to keep me from pushing you off and getting up myself?"

"Mmm…" Naruto put his finger to his chin in thought, "you love me and would never do such a thing?"

"Hn; not good enough."

"What?" Naruto sat up, outraged, freeing Itachi' chest in the process and allowing the man to finally sit up with a triumphant grin that clearly said, '_gotcha.' _

"Hmph," Naruto sat up as well and leaned back over again, placing his head on Itachi's shoulder this time. "Sometimes you're worst than the teme."

"What a compliment," Itachi droned sarcastically, adjusting Naruto to a more comfortable position. "But unlike me, Sasuke wouldn't take a day off of work just for fun no matter how much you begged."

"True," Naruto grinned; more satisfied with the results he gets with his boyfriend than his best friend. At least Itachi listened to the fact that all work and no play make Naruto a very dull boy; while no matter what Naruto said to Sasuke, the younger Uchiha was just a plain mood-killer. But for some reason, Naruto continued to tolerate his sole, moody company against better judgment and advice from his peers. Though enough people told him quite frequently that putting up with insults and curses all day did not bode well for his self-esteem, he continued to be attracted to all things Uchiha, which eventually became Itachi included, once he had met the broody bastard's elder brother.

Not to be deterred by an early refusal, Naruto decided to continue with his request to spend the day alone with his boyfriend. "But today is such a nice day." Itachi turned his head to the curtain-covered windows shading the room in darkness, and turned his confused frown to an amused grin. "Let's just turn off our cell phones, hang out by the lake, and do nothing. Absolutely nothing!" Naruto cried, throwing his head back in bliss.

A small smile eased itself on Itachi's face. "Mmm, nothing sounds nice. Unfeasible with everything we _both _have to get done. But nice all the same."

"You know your clients will still be there the next day and will wait for you as long as it takes," Naruto started to reason, feeling like he might actually get somewhere with this.

"They could easily decide to –"

"Switch investors?" Naruto asked skeptically, obvious disbelief written all over his face. "You're the best; the most level-headed, genius, successful businessman of them all."

Itachi smirked. "How kind of you to say," he teased; brushing his fingers down Naruto's side, making the blond shiver and squirm. "And I suppose I have to tell you that everyone will still be at your door tomorrow, asking for advice and waiting for your judgment to move ahead. You'll be stopping nearly all production in the city again if you don't go in," he stated matter-of-factly.

"Hm." Naruto shrugged, deciding to take it all as a compliment. "They all love me; they'll forgive me." He nodded to himself, not even thinking of how full his appointment book would be tomorrow. "They can wait."

Itachi stayed quiet for awhile; continuing to run his fingers up and down Naruto's side with subconscious care. Naruto responded by wrapping an arm around Itachi's side and waiting for him to stop daydreaming and voice his final decision.

_Briiiing! Briiiing! Briiiing! _

Startled awake by the annoying screech of the alarm, Itachi turned and slammed his forefinger down on the off-button. Their 25 minutes in bed were up. It was now or never.

"Fine," Itachi said with resigned finality; returning to look at Naruto. "While I take a shower, you're in charge of the picnic basket."

"Yay!" Naruto jumped from the bed and ran into the kitchen. A picnic by the lake. Awesome! He hadn't been to the lake in ages and ages and ages.

Okay, last month.

But still. They both needed a break and more time to themselves than the Friday-night outing with friends and the occasional snuggle-slash-lie-in in the morning.

Naruto took out basket from the top cupboard and placed it on the counter, where he began to fill it with crackers, pocky, some dango, cookies, sweets, soda, water bottles, and hmmm…maybe he should make some sandwiches too.

Just as he was about to open his mouth to call to Itachi what kind of sandwich would he like, he was stopped in his tracks by a low growl coming from the bedroom.

"Naruto," Itachi's warning voice made the blond's head snap up to attention and slowly try to sink into the floor, hiding behind the rattan basket.

Uh oh.

"Come in here," he said in a sweeter, more seductive voice. But Naruto was smarter than that. He knew Itachi had something much different planned than what Naruto would like –like a compliment on his fine braiding skills.

Still, Naruto slowly slunk around the table island and started making his way towards the door. The three foot walk over was much shorter than he had anticipated. Sticking his head around the corner of the door sheepishly, Naruto cast a look inside.

Itachi was looking in the mirror, the single plait now hanging over the front of his shoulder, making him look a bit like a girl –if not one of those cross-dressers you see on the street sometimes. But still, despite the gender confusion, Naruto had to admit that he still looked sexy.

Itachi didn't even turn around, but continued to glare daggers into the mirror at his new hairdo. "What did you do to my hair?" He asked calmly, tugging at the purple elastic that held the woven locks together before promptly dropping it as though it had scorched his skin.

"Heh," Naruto rubbed the back of his neck, desperately trying to keep from bursting out laughing at the sight. Instead, he worked on looking contrite yet innocent at the same time, on the sly chance that he could win Itachi over into an easy forgiveness this early in the morning before their day of fun really began. "Oh. Uh, you noticed that, huh?"

"You," Itachi began, slowly turning to look at the frozen blond in the doorway, "are so dead." An evil smirk lit up on his face.

Maybe it was a better idea to go to work today after all.

~おわり~

1. Okay, not really sure why I had to put this in, but it seemed perfect. For those of you who may not know what the heck this is, _the game _is basically a mental concept that you cannot think about or you lose. The whole _point_ is to not think of "the game". Once you do, you lose. In all actuality, there's really no point to it. You're winning all the time as long as you don't think about it. Not sure really where this came from or how well known it is, but it can be quite amusing. I hope I explained it well enough. But all the same, it is a very confusing and pointless thing, so if you don't get it, don't worry. You're not missing out on anything. XD

_And for those of you who do know what I'm talking about…You all just lost! _

_Side note: Listening to: Los Campesinos' You! Me! Dancing! _

"_And it's always sad to go, but it's never that sad, _

_Because there's only so many places you're guaranteed of getting a hug when you leave._

_And when you're walking home, it always seems like a good idea to go paddling in the fountain. _

_And that's because it _**is**_ a good idea!_

_And we're just like, how Rousseau depicts man in the state of nature:_

_We're undeveloped, we're ignorant, we're stupid, but we're happy." _

So, aside from my countless rambling, what did you think? I would love to hear from anyone? ^.^


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